Message authentication fights spam
E-mail filters have become effective at preserving our in-boxes, creating the illusion that spam has been tamed, reports Computerworld Singapore. However, the bulk of spam is growing, with MessageLabs saying about 70% of all e-mail traffic the past week, and 66% this year was bogus, the report says.
The report notes that while junk and malware-laden messages have been pushed out of sight for many computer users, they are not out of mind for those minding e-mail delivery systems, who say tackling the growing problem demands an answer to the simple question: Who`s e-mailing?
Microsoft and Sendmail say this question must be answered if businesses are to save e-mail from having its killer application status re-designated, the report says.
SMS champ defeated by computer
The world`s fastest text messenger was handed his first head-to-head defeat by a voice-recognition computer which bested record-time on a complicated 27-word message, reports The Age.
The competition was sponsored by Nuance Communications, Nuance Communications, a company that hopes to deploy its new software across several wireless carriers next year.
Nuance recruited 18-year-old Ben Cook, who gained celebrity for the text title, to test their software.
3 UK offers free IM
Mobile operator 3 UK will offer free instant messaging (IM) services to its customers as it looks to up the ante in the mobile phone content market, reports the Independent Online (UK).
The mobile operator hopes to increase customer loyalty and attract new users with free IM, the report says. Prepaid subscribers users will be restricted to 200 free messages a day.
IM addicts get paid for advertising
Heavy users of IM software are being paid to place advertising text in their user names by a company in China, reports VNUNet.
Beijing-based 5Sai.com provides short text adverts, usually including a Web site address, which users add to the end of their IM names, the report says.
The company awards points based on the amount of time the user is online with that name. The user can then exchange the points for cash or products from the advertisers whose services they have been promoting.
SMS still king
Text messaging remains the most dominant mode of mobile data communication, as high costs and cumbersome procedures keep customers from fully embracing fancier applications, reports the pensinsularqatar.com.
As revenue from voice service narrows, mobile operators are hard pressed to find a key new application that will continue generating cash like the simple yet still popular SMS, the report says.
One solution is to enrich the content of text messages by adding voice greetings or templates on birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other special occasions, industry experts say.
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